6 Ways to Market Your CPA or Bookkeeping Practice Online

Marketing has surely changed over the last 10 years! Print advertising is not as effective as it used to be and customers are trading in their newspapers for the Internet. Are you making the transition with them? Consider these 6 ways to market your practice online:

1. Website – By now, this is a standard marketing tool and form of communication. If your practice does not have a website, you are behind the curveball. A website immediately shows potential and tells current customers who you are and what you do. After you set up the website, the key is getting these potential customers to find you. Search engine optimization (SEO) services can help. By providing key words in your website, you can help ensure that you will be on the first page, rather than the last page, of search engine result.

2. Social Media – What began as a way to talk with your friends is now a key way for marketing to complete strangers. Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are all social media sites that allow your practice to put information online, for both people you know and people you don’t know. What’s important to note with social media is that each one of these sites are different and each one attracts a different type of user. Know your audience for each, and then post based on that information.

3. Blogging – Perhaps you have a lot to say about a topic that can help other people. By blogging, a potential customer can get some insight into how you think about a topic. After a while, you may be seen as an expert and garner real attention for yourself. Some worry about oversharing knowledge with people who are not your customers. While this is certainly a way to showcase your knowledge, the key lies in the way you apply the knowledge and make the customer feel about the experience.

4. YouTube Videos – So, a video about accounting may not win your practice an Oscar for Best Film, but there are a lot of individuals that search YouTube for the most simple ideas – form how to turn on their weed eater to understanding financial ratios. Don’t underestimate the gratefulness others will have for what you consider even the simplest thing to understand. Post enough how-to videos and you will become an expert that people will call on.

5. Guest Articles – Many companies and online newsletters are looking for people to share their knowledge. By including a short, biographical paragraph in the article, you give customers a way to contact you for more information and a possible relationship.

6. Software Websites – Users – namely, prospects – often go to the software company’s website for help and more information on how to operate their software. After a while, though, they may need to develop a relationship with an individual they feel they can count on to call for help more regularly. Many software companies will post a page on their website, showing the location of a practice that can further help these users. The page will include your location and contact information, so that the user can check for practices in their geographical location and then contact them.

All of these are ways to market online. What they have in common, though, is that they all generally circle back to the very first one – your website. That’s your space that is dedicated 100% to telling people about the strengths of your practice. After you have that piece, then use the other five ways to show people your expertise in certain areas, and refer them back to your website for even more information.

About the Author

Shayna Chapman, CPA.CITP

Shayna received her BBA in Accounting from Marshall University in Huntington, WV, where she graduated with honors. While at Marshall, Shayna took time to study abroad in Japan at Temple University Japan in Tokyo. Upon graduation from Marshall, Shayna worked with Japanese manufacturing clients and small businesses. Today, she not only works diligently in her CPA firm but sits on several non-profit and advisory boards to make her community a better place. Shayna has also been featured in the CPA Technology Advisor for taking the original 25 year-old firm that she came into from almost no technology when she began to a new, modern, paperless firm that operates mostly in the cloud. Shayna was named one of CPA Practice Advisor's 2012 Top 40 under 40 in the accounting industry.